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Pink_Butterfly

Hope all is ok MeandO. Thinking of you x

Honeysucklelou2

How are you MeandO? Hope all is well with you.

MeandO

Hello everyone.

It's been a very long few months and life has changed quite a bit.

First things first, we've moved house and have been in our new house for a couple of weeks now. We were due to move earlier but I was quite poorly for a couple of weeks which completely wiped me out so the move had to be delayed.

In the end, I bought the (rebuilt) new build as nothing else remotely suitable came to market in time. It is a lovely house and DS seems very happy with it; I am growing to love it too due to the views and the amount of sunshine we get here, but it will take a while to feel like our home, mostly due to all the 'newness' of a new build I think. I do miss our old home and the convenience and locality of it.

I also miss the much lower mortgage.

So, for a quick financial round-up, despite the astronomical (to me) mortgage I now have, I'm doing ok so far.
I have managed to keep an emergency pot of £4600 which I will be able to build up to £5k once I receive a refund of a deposit from the house building company (which I have been chasing for weeks now.:mad:).

I have also just made my first mortgage overpayment of £150. :T
This morning I switched deals for one of the sub accounts on my mortgage, reducing the interest rate from 2.19% down to 1.77% so that will save me around £20 a month which I can then use to make further overpayments.

The removals cost me around £150 less than I had originally been quoted, basically as a gesture of kindness (and probably sympathy!) from the removal company. This went towards paying the £149 I (apparently) owed to the previous utilities supplier for gas and electric at the old house, based on my meter readings. I guess that did include the winter usage.

I have had to sell some of my furniture and am currently advertising my much loved lounge furniture as it won't fit in the house and is currently stored in the garage. A single mattress was sold yesterday which brought in £20. I should receive £250 from the other items and I have cash back of £225 pending in TCB from switching utility deals since being here. I will also receive a gift from the BT deal which I don't need and will sell to add a little more to the OP fund.

As if the stress hasn't been difficult enough to deal with, last week we had rumblings of possible job losses at work. It was a stressful week, but I'm trying not to think about it any more. What will be will be and I will deal with situations if or when I have to.

It was also a big birthday of mine...
People were very kind though and I received lots of cards, money and lovely gifts. My sister very kindly gave me £250 which I put straight into the savings. Someone else gave me a gift card for TKMaxx which I used to buy some kitchen items yesterday. I only needed to add 98p.
OH organised a surprise gathering of our friends and his family (mine are too far away ) for me too which was just lovely. It was so good to see people after 6 months of keeping my head and dealing with all the house problems.

My parents came up for a weekend too - I was so pleased my Mum was well enough as a previous planned visit had to be cancelled as she was rushed into hospital with breathing difficulties. :(:(
They love the house and brought lots of bits to help us out. They are so kind and generous to us, I miss them so much.

I think the enormity of the past 6 months hit me like a bus last week. I was so emotional and a complete wreck and really struggled to hold it together. I'm still wavering a bit and am lacking the ability to know what to do next, but am doing much better now. I'm trying to be more positive. I know focusing on overpaying this mortgage now and keeping a tight grip on the budget will give me a bit more drive and focus too. I have been keeping up with YNAB this whole time, I hate to think of the mess I'd be in if I hadn't.

I hope everyone is well and life is treating you all kindly. I have a lot of diaries to catch up on, so will have a read through those the next few nights. x

MeandO

New signature - first month's mortgage interest yet to be added though, so will go up before it goes down...

Mortgage: £107K - now: £106,198.24
Mortgage OP's 2019: £150/£1800
EF: £4600 • H2S: £600

Chrystal

Hi Meando :wave:

Great to see you back again. It sounds as though it's been a very rough few months, but hopefully you can now start to see some stability in your life. (((hugs)))

Take a day at a time and remember to ENJOY something every day. Keep your chin up... you'll get there in the end. XX

[Deleted User]

Great to hear from you! And good to hear the move went as well as it could. I'm glad to hear you're in a safe place now, the rest will hopefully fall into place. It'll soon feel like home once the negative associations you have with the whole situation wear off. Look after yourself!

Pink_Butterfly

Lovely to hear from you chicken. And happy belated birthday!!! Glad you got spoilt, you deserve it

Honeysucklelou2

Good to hear from you MeandO. I'm glad you have views to enjoy and sunshine. Hope that your new house begins to feel like home soon.

MeandO

Thank you for the warm welcome back everyone.

Work today was just dismal - and feeezing - I actually sat at my desk with my gloves on all day.
I forgot to mention that my workplace has moved premises which means I have an extra 20 mile round trip everyday, but I can work from home once a week so it’s not all bad. There is also a lovely cafe in this new building so I have to be strict with myself and bring lunch in with me to avoid spending money. The odd hot drink and bacon roll, or cooked lunch really adds up over a week and I just can’t justify the unnecessary expense.
I took lunch with me today and have taken some soup out of the freezer to take to work tomorrow.

I made a couple of banana cakes tonight with the bananas that were going over in the fruit bowl. I also had some leftover ‘ready’ cake mix that needed using up, so whizzed it all up in the mixer and cooked them whilst the oven was on for DS’s tea. DS had some for dessert tonight (although no-one tell him there were bananas in it ). There will be lots going in the freezer later too.

The people who came to look at the furniture last night have done nothing but mess me about - the joys of selling on fb :mad: - so someone else is coming tonight. Hopefully they want it as I would really like to clear the space now and the extra money will be nice in the savings pot or as an overpayment.

I’m shattered tonight. My whole body feels tired. I had an early night last night but it never seems to make any difference. Oh to feel rested once more, I’ve forgotten what it feels like.

crazy_cat_lady

So good to hear from you, and hear that you're in the new place.
They say that moving home is one of the major life stresses, and your old home was particularly stressful. I'm not surprised things are tough for you and you're feeling a bit wiped. I'm glad you've had a chance to catch up with your family, and that you had a good birthday.
Sounds like lots of other change as well with work etc, so just plod on one day at a time.
Lots of love to you and ds. :grouphug: